As I've written a couple of times on these pages, center is the hardest position to fill in fantasy college basketball. A couple of the leagues that I am in have even gone away from the position because so few college players are centers anymore. Nevertheless, there are some league creators (like myself) who are stuck with tradition and force their team owners to field a center. This weekly report is for you.
There are a number of ways of defining a center. In my leagues, I have a very broad approach and I will allow almost any player to get center eligibility if a person requests it and has a decent reason or two. This sometimes leads to an over-generosity on my part and players like JaMychal Green and Wayne Chism suddenly become center-eligible. There's nothing really wrong with that, but it does dilute the position. Other leagues will use a variety of sources, including the team's official website, ESPN, Athlon, Lindy's, and Blue Ribbon (when they define the player's position, which they don't always do). As long as you have a clear rule from the beginning, I think any of those systems work.
For this report, however, I want there to be no fudging. Therefore, I am only going to use the team's official website as a source for my center material. As a second limiter, I will try not to repeat the same player twice this season (for whatever reason, I like to write columns that way). Without further ado, let's get to some centers who have started the season well.
Eric Boateng, Arizona State Sun Devils
It would have been consistent with Boateng's first three seasons to meekly bow out and never make much of his status of a McDonald All-American/Duke recruit. Boateng was a backup center with the Sun Devils in each of the past two seasons and did not make much noise as a Jeff Pendergraph did the heavy lifting. With Pendergraph on the Portland Trailblazers, Boateng has been given the opportunity to be the man, and he is taking advantage. Through four games, he is averaging 11.5 points on 72.0% from the field and 8.0 rpg. Granted, the competition hasn't been great, but ASU's last opponent TCU has Zvonko Buljan. Boateng got Buljan in foul trouble and went on to score 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting with 12 rebounds. Boateng has a return game at Duke on Nov. 25 which should be very interesting.
Mac Koshwal, DePaul Blue Demons (also qualifies at forward)
I have a theory that it isn't that hard to put up big numbers for a lousy team (I call it the Vin Baker corollary). While Koshwal's numbers haven't been outstanding during his two-year stint with the Blue Demons, it goes without saying that the team has been poor. Still, fantasy owners don't give a hoot if a team wins or loses as long as their guy produces. Koshwal has averaged close to a double-double over his first two seasons and came out of the gate with strength in the opener against Columbia . The 6-foot-10 Chicago native scored 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field, snagged 12 rebounds, and had four assists. Columbia 's tallest starter was 6-foot-7, but we have to take numbers where we can find them. The Blue Demon went on to post opposite numbers - 12 points, 19 rebounds - against Northern Iowa. Koshwal should continue to produce said numbers.
Chris Oakes, San Jose State Spartans
In his fifth year with the Spartans (he redshirted as a sophomore after playing six games), the 6-foot-10 Oakes could be the best center in the WAC. In fact, there isn't that much competition beyond Boateng west of the Rockies . Oakes provided a rather quiet 8.2 ppg and 7.6 rpg as a junior last year, but had a terrific game against undermanned William Jessup in the Spartans' opener. In just 18 minutes, Oakes produced 12 points and 15 rebounds with a pair of blocks. Sadly, San Jose State won't play the likes of William Jessup every night and the Spartans faced off with the Washington Huskies next. Despite losing the game, Oakes provided eight points and 12 rebounds. As long as the Spartans guards get him the ball, he should be a double-double guy this season.
Dan Geriot, Richmond Spiders
Fantasy owners whose leagues included the A-10 were crushed last year when Geriot went down with a torn ACL before even playing a game. The 6-foot-9 Spider looked on the verge of having a breakout season that had to be delayed a year. Other Richmond players, like guard David Gonzalvez, stepped up in his absence, but the team looks much more formidable with their center in place. Geriot had a relatively quiet opener against Lehigh with 11 points and six boards. He dominated fast-paced VMI with 17 points and 17 rebounds in 27 minutes. Geriot is the rare center who will shoot from beyond the arc. As a sophomore, he hit 1.0 3pg, but he has attempted just two threes in the first two games (making neither). As Geriot shakes off the rust, he should be a great fantasy factor.
Keith Benson, Oakland Grizzlies
It never hurts to scour the Tier 3 and 4 teams when looking for a solid pivotman. Benson, a 6-foot-11 Famington Hills , MI native, had one of the more impressive debuts this season. Against Eastern Michigan , he came two blocks way from a triple-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds, and eight blocks. The eight blocks tied his career high (also the Oakland school record), and Benson already owns the school record for career rejections. Benson had a quieter day against slow-paced Wisconsin, but he still managed 12 points and nine rebounds. Benson then had 21 points and nine rebounds against Rochester College. With point guard Johnathon Jones and Derick Nelson, Oakland has the best trio of players in the Summit . Look for Benson to be among the nation's leading shot blockers as well.